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Jake Peavy
Jacob Edward "Jake" Peavy (born May 31, 1981) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has also played in MLB for the San Diego Padres and Chicago White Sox. He bats and throws right-handed. Peavy stands 6'1" tall (1.85 m) and weighs 195 pounds (83 kg). While with the Padres, he won the 2007 NL Cy Young Award after recording the pitching triple crown that year. While with the Boston Red Sox in 2013, he won a World Series championship. San Diego Padres 2002 Peavy was called up from Double-A to make his Major League Debut on June 22, 2002 against the New York Yankees at Qualcomm Stadium. He lost the game, allowing one run on 3 hits in 6 innings while striking out 4. In total, Peavy had 6 wins and 7 losses with a 4.52 ERA and 90 Ks. The Padres won just 66 games and were in the cellar of the NL West. 2003 In his sophomore season, Peavy started 32 games (194.2 IP), with a 4.11 earned run average, a 12-11 record, and 156 strikeouts. The Padres finished last in their division again at a 64-98 record. 2004 During his third year of major league experience in 2004, Peavy emerged as the Padres' ace starting pitcher and one of the best pitchers in baseball. He compiled a 15-6 record, struck out 173 in 166 innings and led the Major Leagues with a 2.27 ERA. He became the youngest pitcher to win an ERA title since Dwight Gooden in 1985. On September 17, 2004, Peavy allowed Barry Bonds' 700th career home run. 2005 On March 5, 2005 he signed a four-year 14.5 million contract and held a club option for 2009 extension with the Padres. During the 2005 season, Peavy was selected for the National League All-Star team and ended the regular season leading the National League in strikeouts with 216 (in 203 innings). He was second in the majors to Minnesota's Johan Santana who had 238 strikeouts. In addition he finished the season with a 13–7 record, 2.88 ERA, a strikeout-to-walk ratio of over 4:1 and WHIP of 1.044. After the Padres won the National League West in 2005, Peavy was widely considered the key to upsetting the St. Louis Cardinals, whom they faced in the National League Division Series. Peavy gave up eight runs in the first game, and afterwards it was announced that he would miss the rest of the season with a broken rib, which he apparently suffered while celebrating the Padres clinching the NL West Championship. Peavy was the captain of Team USA in the 2006 World Baseball Classic. He started the opening game for the U.S., a 2–0 win over Mexico, giving up just one hit and no runs over three innings. He did not factor in the decision in the second round game against Japan, as he gave up three runs in five innings in a game that the U.S. won, 4–3. 2006 In 2006, Peavy got off to a rocky start, in part due to mechanical adjustments brought on by various off-season injuries. Although Peavy would go only 11–14 with a 4.09 ERA, he still managed to finish second in the National League in strikeouts with 215, one shy of both his 2005 league-leading total and of the 2006 NL strikeout leader, Aaron Harang who logged 32 more innings than Peavy. In the playoffs, the Padres again faced the St. Louis Cardinals in the first round. As the game one starter, Peavy had a much stronger outing than his 2005 playoff game, but the Padres again lost to the Cardinals. 2007 On July 1, 2007, for the second time in his career, Peavy was named to the 2007 NL All-Star Team. On July 9, he was named as the starting pitcher for the NL. On August 2, Peavy struck out Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Jeff DaVanon, for his 1000th career strikeout. Peavy won the pitching Triple Crown in 2007, leading the National League with 19 wins, 240 strikeouts, and a 2.54 ERA. Since the divisional play era started in 1969, Peavy is only the eighth player to accomplish this feat. On October 23, Peavy won the Players Choice Award for Outstanding NL Pitcher. He added the NL Cy Young—as a unanimous choice—on November 15, becoming just the 10th National League player in history to win the Cy Young Award in a unanimous vote (Sandy Koufax was unanimously selected three times). The completion of the 2007 campaign represented Peavy's sixth year in the league. Over that six-year period Peavy collected two strikeout champion awards, two major league ERA titles, and a unanimous, triple-crown Cy Young Award. On December 12, 2007, he signed a 4 year extension, worth $52 million with the Padres. At the time the contract was the largest in Padres history. The contract includes a $22 million option for 2013. 2008 On April 5, 2008, Peavy pitched a two-hit complete game over the Los Angeles Dodgers. The following day, still-images from FOX sports video feed from the game showed a dirty, brown substance on the index and middle fingers, along with his thumb. Manager Bud Black defended Peavy saying that "it was a mixture of dirt and rosin". In the two games immediately following the report, Peavy posted a 1–0 record with a 1.92 ERA. In May he went on the DL with a sore throwing elbow. He returned on June 12 and pitched six shutout innings with four strikeouts. He ended 2008 with only a 10–11 record, but had one of the lowest run support per start of any pitcher in the league, and finished the season with a 2.85 ERA. Peavy had been the subject of numerous trade rumors during the 2008 offseason, amidst reports that the Padres were looking to reduce salaries and build on young players for the future. In November 2008, Peavy added the New York Yankees to the list of teams he would accept a trade to. The list included several teams from the NL including the Atlanta Braves, St. Louis Cardinals, the Chicago Cubs, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Houston Astros. Peavy preferred to be in the NL, so the Yankees would not be involved. The Astros and Cardinals decided they would not pursue Peavy after talking with GM Kevin Towers on what they would have to give up. In November 2008, the Padres were working with the Braves on a Peavy trade, in which Peavy would be traded to Atlanta for SS Yunel Escobar, OF Gorkys Hernandez, P Blaine Boyer and one of P Charlie Morton or P Jo-Jo Reyes. The Padres wanted the two top prospects in the organization as well, pitcher Tommy Hanson and outfielder Jordan Schafer, but after a few weeks, the Braves decided to move on to bring in a few free agents. 2009, first half In spring training, Peavy pitched 14 total innings with no runs allowed, 10 strikeouts and no walks. He rejected a trade to the Chicago White Sox, which included Aaron Poreda and Clayton Richard, saying that remaining in San Diego was best for him and his family. On May 22, Peavy hurt his ankle rounding third base against the Chicago Cubs in a start where he earned the win with 6 scoreless innings and 10 strikeouts a day after rejecting a trade to the White Sox. On June 12, Peavy learned he had a strained tendon in the back of his ankle, suffered in the May 22 start. He was placed on the DL the same day. At the time of his injury, Peavy was 6-6 with 3.96 ERA and 92 strikeouts. Chicago White Sox 2009, second half On July 31, Peavy agreed to a trade to the Chicago White Sox in a last minute trade deadline day deal for Clayton Richard, Aaron Poreda, Adam Russell and Dexter Carter. In his first start for the White Sox, Peavy pitched 5 innings, giving up 3 runs (all earned), and striking out 5, getting the win against the Kansas City Royals. Peavy went 3-0 in his time with the White Sox compiling his year's record to 9-6. In his 2009 stint with the White Sox he shut out the Detroit Tigers on two occasions. 2010 In 2010, Peavy got off to a rough start going 2-5 with a 6.05 ERA. Peavy then won five consecutive starts with a 1.99 ERA. On July 6, while pitching in the second inning against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Peavy injured his right arm and immediately walked off the field. He was diagnosed with a detached latissimus dorsi muscle in his back. He underwent surgery on July 14, 2010 at the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago and was knocked out for the remainder of the season. 2011 In 2011, Peavy had his worst season as a major leaguer. Due to various injuries and fatigue, Peavy was limited to only pitching in 19 games. Peavy started 18 games and came out of the bullpen once for the first time ever in his MLB career. Peavy finished the season posting a Win-Loss record of 7-7 with an ERA of 4.92 and 95 strikeouts. 2012 Peavy was named the AL Pitcher of the Month for April, pitching 3-1 with a 1.67 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 5 starts, all quality starts. Peavy threw 2 consecutive complete games and one shutout. On July 8, 2012, Peavy was selected to the All-Star Game as a replacement for C. J. Wilson. Peavy was awarded the 2012 American League Gold Glove Award, sharing the award with Tampa Bay's Jeremy Hellickson. It was the first Gold Glove award of his career. On October 30, 2012, Peavy signed a two year, $29 million extension with a vesting option for 2015, keeping him with the White Sox at least through the 2014 season. 2013 On June 4, Peavy came out of a game against the Seattle Mariners in the fourth inning with a left rib fracture he was placed on the disabled list. Prior to that he had registered a 4.30 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 66/15 K/BB ratio in 67 innings. He was activated from the DL and made his first start against the Atlanta Braves on July 20. Boston Red Sox On July 30, 2013, Peavy was traded to the Boston Red Sox along with Brayan Villarreal in a three-team trade, in which José Iglesias went to the Detroit Tigers and Avisail García, J.B. Wendelken, Francelis Montas and Cleuluis Rondon went to the White Sox. On August 3, Peavy had a winning debut as the Red Sox defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-2. On October 30th, 2013, Jake Peavy a World Series title with the Boston Red Sox. The World Series win was the first of Peavy's career.